Social Phobia / Social Anxiety Disorder

People with Social Phobia or Social Anxiety Disorder have an extreme fear of being watched and judged by others and of being embarrassed or humiliated by their own behavior. They often alter their behavior to avoid social or other situations in which they feel they may be judged, embarrass themselves, or meet with disapproval from others. This may include obvious challenges like performing in public or going to parties, but can also include things like eating in public, or getting on a crowded bus and running the risk of the other passengers looking at them.

Social anxiety can be both distressing and disabling. The key issue is that people with these fears would really deeply like to socialize with others, but they worry so much that others might reject them or think poorly of them that they don’t want to take the risk of this happening. Numbers of men and women are affected by this.